The environmental crisis is real and urgent and has the potential to harm everyone. It is not a question of "saving the planet" but of saving ourselves! But too few people fully understand what it means and what we can do about it. This course has been produced to help improve environmental literacy.

We use animation to illustrate a series of discussions between two characters. Naomi is an environmental specialist and Alison represents learners participating in the course. Alison is interested in expanding her knowledge about the environmental crisis so that she can understand how mankind is affecting the environment, how the crisis affects everyone and what can be done to minimise mankind's impact. Naomi and Alison introduce learners to the following aspects of the environmental crisis:

• what we understand by natural resources, why it is important to manage them carefully and the consequences of their continued depletion

• an introduction to the hierarchy for managing waste

• pollution of the air, water and land

• a brief overview of climate breakdown

• what is meant by biodiversity and why it is important to minimise its loss.

Each topic is covered in a different setting to link the issues covered to our everyday lives. The course concludes with a summary, followed by a short quiz to confirm the knowledge acquired.